By: Trevor Hooth
The Detroit Tigers signed their first round pick Alex Faedo on Wednesday, the 18th overall selection in the 2017 MLB Draft. With the deal finally done, the Tigers have come to terms with 22 of their first 23 selections.
This was the second time the Tigers selected Faedo. In 2014, the team selected the right-handed pitcher in the 40th round of the draft. Faedo declined to sign with the team, and fulfilled his commitment to the University of Florida.
Teams look for value in their picks, and the Tigers may have made the best pick for the draft position. On Baseball America’s list of top draft prospects, Faedo sat at No. 10.
At the time of the draft, Florida was playing in the College World Series, and Faedo was actually pitching when his name was called. So the first round pick did not know his fate until the game ended.
Being selected 18th overall comes with the expectation of performing once getting the Majors. The monetary value of the pick alone shows that. Before throwing a professional pitch, Faedo signed a contract worth $3.5 million, which is about $300,000 over the estimated value for this draft slot.
Faedo is projected to be worth it. The organization sees him developing into a front-of-the-rotation arm.
Scouts and experts alike think that Faedo is close to being MLB-ready right now. He is not expected to spend a ton of time in the farm system before getting the call up to Detroit. His profile on MLB Pipeline lists his slider as his best pitch, and as that develops, it will become a consistent out pitch.
If Faedo lives up to expectations he is worth the money. The organization is very excited about Faedo, and thinks they have a future ace. Starting pitching has been an issue this year, and quick growth from Faedo would be a huge boost to the organization in the coming years.